Customer Reviews

The Criminalist

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am very saddened to read that William Relling Jr. passed away January 22, 2004. "The Criminalist" was by far one of my favorite novels of the past several years. I wrote the review on this site "A Wonderful Find," and I meant it. I was really looking forward to more of his work.
I encourage anyone who reads this to purchase a copy of "The Criminalist" in honor of Mr. Relling. It is a wonderful legacy.
My sympathies to his family and friends.

Unlike the previous review, I thought Relling's characters were quite strong. I particularly enjoyed the relationship between the hero (Ken Bennett) and his sister. The pacing of the story was excellent and I highly recommend this book.

A very skilled writter and storyteller, I hope Relling receives the recognition he deserves.

Absolutely nothing happens in this book. The premise is promising because I like serial killer novels and this one might have had a paranormal twist. In reality the adept and the spunky but useless female detective stand around and do almost nothing through the whole book. Well the "hero" (?) does manage to have an affair with the married mother of one of the murdered children, does that count as action? There are no clues to check out, no one to interview, no feeling that they are closing in on the perp. For about five pages we see the world from the perspective of the killer. During that span he strangles a girl, period. No insight, no chills, no addition to what passes for a plot. Finally out of the blue the adept gets a flash when he is near the killer and they catch him The book ends. Thank heaven for small favors.

I am sad to share the news that my friend Bill--William Relling Jr.--passed away yesterday. I hope you all will enjoy his stories as much as he enjoyed sharing his thoughts and ideas for new ones with us, his friends. He was, most of all, a writer.

What attracted me to this novel initially was the great, vintage
fifties/early-sixties-style paperback original cover artwork (which, incidentally, as was the case with many of those books, has nothing to do with the novel itself...just something to set the mood). What I found after reading it was a wonderfully paced, Cornell Woolrich/John D. MacDonald-type crime-noir novel that was full of real suspense, great writing and intriguing characters. Mr. Relling gives a nod to the old masters while at the same time giving the story a modern spin. (Though I could literally visualize the climactic scene being played out in black and white with someone like Robert Mitchum). The ending is also unexpected and very moving. One of the best thrillers of the year.
That being said, it's hard to believe that such a solid thriller is being published as a paperback original when so much dreck is published in hardcover. Though I must say that, more and more, as it must have been in the golden days of paperback originals, I'm finding some wonderful titles that are much better than new high-profile releases. This book is dramatically better, for instance, than any new hardcover by someone like James Patterson. Remember, however, that giants like the afore-mentioned John D. MacDonald wrote many a paperback original. Leisure Books in particular (who published this fine novel)has taken up this banner and publishes many great books that I suppose the big houses don't deem "marketable" or "safe" enough. Thanks to Leisure, you can find great suspense and horror novels that would otherwise not be given a chance. In particular, their horror line is becoming the gold-standard.
So please don't let this one slip away.....it really is like finding a brilliant, hidden treasure.

(Also see "Red Angel" by Andrew Harper).

I want to try a different review... so before I get to meat and potatoes of my review for whatever fair person may read this I will offer an appetizer then unorodoxically sure lol a dessert:).
Appetizer: The worst part about this novel was characterization. That doesn't mean it was neccessarily bad, or I wouldn't have given it four stars. However in my opinion the author chose brevity over characterization resulting in 2 1/2 dimensional characters instead of 3 dimensional ones the readers could really care about while perusing the story.

Dessert: The best part about "The Criminalist" is that Relling, as the critics hailed is a great storyteller. This novel trascends genres, building a neuveaux bridge between horror and thriller. The book has elements as both inspiring me to label it a Throllor teehee.

Basically "The Criminalist" is the story of children being murdered by a serial killer, who baffles law enforcement. As political pressure and the tragedy of the unknown killer's actions overwhelm the California town of San Patricio, the police resort to allowing (reluctantly) the recently widowered psychic Ken Bennett to assist in the investigation.

The pace of this story is steady, and perhaps a nice point is that unlike some thrillers on the market whose resolution of tension seems to trendily occur about 100 pages from the end Relling manages to keep the action intense until the last chapter.
This is great escapist fiction, and could stereotypically be called a short read, as it is not long and once the "pop fiction" reader gets into it, they will find the pages being turned at a relentless pace.
If I wanted to nitpick I could detail more yet I believe this isn't a book likely to be found on any English lit curriculum so will finish by saying it really is Criminally good and if Relling lets his now high standard of thrilling prose slide in new fiction I will supbeona him haha.

I enjoyed The Criminalist more than I did Sweet Poison also written by William Relling Jr. probably because it was easier to read (like eating candy) and because the short chapters kept me reading and offered instant gratification for my limited efforts. I liked the male psychic, the female sheriff's officer/lead detective, and the professor/mother of one of the slain kids. (The affair between the psychic and mother was, for me, totally believable. It reminded me of a very similar incident occuring early in George Warren's novel Run for Blood: A trucker boss goes to tell a widow of her husband's murder in a tractor truck hijacking. They don't speak the same language, but the message gets delivered, ending in a session of animalistic lovemaking brought about by a shared bond resulting from the death of a loveone/friend. I didn't like the fact that the killer manages to murder so many innocent kids (13 total) before he is stopped. I didn't like the graphic sex in one chapter and excessive violence in the following chapter where a frustrated, drunken police officer and his drunken friends gruesomely murder an innocent man they believe to be the killer. Sex and violence normally don't bother me, but these chapters seem excessive when compared with the rest of the book. (Some of the kid's murders are discussed, but not in graphic detail.) And my major complaint/sore point with the novel: I didn't believed that the killer could work where he did and kill so many kids and not be detected, i.e., that not one of the victim's families knew that their childen disappeared from where the man worked. Although I point out several things that personally bother me about the novel (also, I didn't like the way the book ends in death), many more things are right, and I recommend it. My next William Relling Jr. novel/read will probably be Wild Horses. I can't wait!

I dont agree with the other reviewers in that this book was "boring" and had "no story". I thought the story was very entertaining and I thought the late Mr. Relling's writing was very good. I always enjoy stories about serial killers and psychics. The killer's POV could have been in it more but that is pretty much the only thing that I didnt like about it. Overall, Im glad that I stumbled upon this book.

Wow! I've read a couple of his books now....and can't wait for the next one!

Keep them coming!!!